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To Pay or Not To Pay?
[audio:ToPayOrNot.mp3|titles=To Pay or Not To Pay?|artists=Christian St John]
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One question I have been mulling over in my head for a while now is should pastors get paid or should they be expected to have a job external to their church work and pastor on the side?
Scripturally there’s not a lot to go on. 1 Timothy 5:18 says, “Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay”” (The Message). The Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 9 that he didn’t want to abuse his power by taking money (v18) and quite a few people out there believe that this should be the standard for all preachers, pastors, evangelists and anyone else in ministry, but I personally don’t think that Paul is condemning the paying of ministers of the Gospel.
Recently there has been a lot of debate and a movement toward home based churches and churches completely run by lay leadership, and the thinking here is that pastors are no different from the other members of the church. In short, the pastor, preacher, or lead elder (whatever you want to call the lead guy or gal) is expected to work a part or full time job external to that body of believers. It’s not that the church is always too cheap to pay their pastors, although in some instances this is the case. There is often a two-fold reason for this line of thinking:
1) The typical paid pastor position is one that for the most part doesn’t allow for a more meaningful interaction with people outside of the church. Often a pastor is so busy with the internal workings of the church and dealing with problems and issues in the lives of their congregation that they have little or no time left for an external ministry or witness. The idea that they work a job external to the church is that they will have a valid witness in their community apart from their church life. Personally I think this is great if and when it works, a leader who subscribes to this line of thinking can truly lead by example.
2) Any and all monies raised by the church should be used to forward the cause of Christ as well as feeding and clothing people, and generally helping those in need. The argument goes that if the church is paying a salary to a pastor then the majority of the money raised by the church usually goes to paying that one person.
The Stupid Church People website wrote about this very issue, “Pastors are the number one weakness in the modern church today. Paid pastoral leadership is the reason the church is weak, inefficient and to a point…neutered. Are we that arrogant as pastors that we think if we didn’t exist that people wouldn’t figure out how to have church by themselves….without our leadership?” Strong words indeed, but are they valid?
In my time in ministry I have met a few pastors who have been milking their churches for everything they could get out of them. I knew one pastor who would go golfing and fishing, play hockey and soccer, watch movies in the church office, work on his own personal projects, and even mow his lawn, all on church time. Another pastor I knew joked about how he used to nap in his office whenever no-one was around. But I don’t think these examples are a fair example of paid ministers. Most of the pastors I know who are paid a full time wage by their churches are hard working people, often going above and beyond and giving 110%.
Looking around on the Internet I have found numerous websites that are against paying people to pastor, preach, evangelize, and minister in general. And although there are some good reasons given I cannot get my head around any of it. I think paying pastors (or not) should be left to the individual churches to decide and shouldn’t be a once for all thing.
Maybe the best way to look at this issue is to ask a bunch of questions. So here goes:
1) Do we want our pastors to be trained in biblical theology and exegesis? Do we want our pastors to have at least a basic understanding of counseling and pastoral care? Do we want our pastors to preach well? If the answer is yes then it is possible that when a position for pastor comes available we will look for someone who has had relevant training in these, and other, areas. The problem is this training doesn’t come cheap, I know as I’ve been there! If someone has been through Bible College and Seminary they would have spent upwards of $100,000 on their education.
What’s the alternative? That we take on whomever we can get, regardless of training, close our eyes and hope for the best? Let me ask you, would you put your life in the hands of a surgeon who took his surgery diploma via an online course?
2) Do we want our pastors to available at any time? Let’s say that an emergency arises in the church and you call the church only to find that your pastor is currently working at Walmart and won’t be available for another couple of hours by which time it could be too late.
3) There are those who think that paying for a pastor is a waste of money. I see it like home insurance… you think it’s a waste of money until you need to make a claim. And then you hope and pray that you have the best insurance.
4) Do we as a church want our pastor’s full attention or someone who is divided between two or three jobs? Another question to ask here is are we ready for the fallout when our pastor burns out, or will we simply toss them to one side and say “next?”
5) Can we really expect non-paid pastors to jump when we say jump? Let’s face it, how many people would give up a big game night or family gathering to go and do some “church work?” And often this is what is expected of our pastors. And whereas paid pastors have little or no excuse, I challenge you to not pay them and see if they turn up to the next prayer night when the big game is showing live on cable.
6) If we’re paying someone for a job to be done then we can expect that the job gets done. Personally, I’m thankful that there are ministers out there who get paid to do what they do because believe me when I say that short of a God-ordained calling no-one would ever do what they do for the amount of pay they receive. Put it this way, I don’t know too many professions that demand so much and yet pay so little. On a regular basis pastors must deal with people who can only be described as pains in the proverbial, visit those who are ill and those who are in hospital for whatever reason, write a great sermon every week and if they fail listen to all the Roper and Ebert’s among us, deal with people with issues such as gossip, slander, personal attack, bitterness, depression, and so on, and on and on the list goes.
A couple of years back one of seminary Profs told me, “No one in their right mind would ever want the job of pastor, unless first God had called them to it.”
7) Doesn’t the Bible clearly state that we are to freely give what we have freely received (Matt. 10:8)? Yes it does. But this does not null and void the need for pastors in our churches. If all of us did our part in church life, if we gave of our time, money, effort, gifts, ideas, sweat, and even blood, then maybe the need for pastors would become less. If we pulled together like a Band of Believers all doing our part to reach out to a lost and hurting world then maybe this issue would be worth considering. But as it stands today here in the Western World most people who frequent our churches are merely hearers and not doers of the Word. If you’re not too sure of my last comment take a good look around on any given Sunday morning and ask how many people in your church are doing ministry that actually makes a difference?
There is so much more I could say on this issue, but for time and sanity’s sake I will end by saying this, I can’t believe that this issue has been an ongoing topic of conversation for quite some time now. But to be honest I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long before this issue is no longer as more and more pastors, preachers, and ministers of the Gospel are turning away from the ministry to find better paying jobs. And if pastors, in their droves are leaving the ministry because of low pay, can you imagine how many would be willing to do what they do for nothing?
Bottom line: Would you?
Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
August, 2009
Once again a great message. I appreciate your frank and revealing candor, and obviously a pastors take on it.
A while back I had thought about this. At the time my thinking was, “well if they are asking us to do all this stuff, while we are working and such, what if they were in the same boat.” I also thought it may set a good example, and help squelch people’s dissent. It was just a thought, and nothing I took a hard stance on.
I’ve known many a pastor that has worked like a dog for the gospel as well as the body of Christ. I wonder, if the reason some people think that is this: In America we have two (maybe three) kinds of churches. The first church, is the “homegrown” one. This was started by a man with a vision from God (said vision could be argued as to its validity), who goes on without any training to start and grow a church. The second is the traditional “schooled” man that goes to seminary and usually has a church in a mainline denomination. The third might be a melding of the two, a pastor that has a homegrown vision, as well as the training. I might be wrong, but I think that your take leans more towards the 2nd and 3rd kind. I think some issues people have, lie within the 1st. These churches (which I have in the past been part of) have a tendency of not being the best ran. Sometimes people take pride in not going to the “evil orthodoxy of a religious institution”, but fail to understand what kind of knowledge that can truly bring. These churches, as I have witnessed, tend to turn out more people soured on the church, than satisfied.
I have also noticed with some of the newer churches (seeker friendly and such), that there are pastors actually making decent money. Driving nice cars and such. It might be a form of rejecting the traditional model, where the pastor was no more than a dog on a leash for the elders. But these, in running from that, have ran too far to the other side. To a struggling parishioner, that can sting. Some of these pastors seem to be A-type driven personalities, but they may also have more trappings than they should, and there is what fuels the fires.
So in saying all this long winded stuff, is that maybe the people that feel this way, are in a sense rebelling against some of the “corruption” (there is probably a better word than that) that they see in the leadership.
In my personal walk, I have tried to not bother the pastor as much as I can, for most that I have known are tremendously busy people. Also, some churches have done a great job of directing the people towards the elders and away from the “movie star” status of the pastor. Like football (sorry American football
) where the line blocks, so the quarterback can run the ball. Am I making any sense? 
Yes Robert, you are making sense. Thanks for your very thoughtful comment. You know, we can try and justify both sides of the argument but in the end what it all boils down to is do we trust God? If God has called an untrained person to begin a church then I say why not! Alternatively if God has called a church to hire a trained pastor and pay them a salary the I say what’s the problem? The problem comes, like in many other areas of ministry, when we say we know best and climb up on that mole hill to defend our stance and attack any other idea/theology.
Robert, I think you’re right in that pastors must safeguard themselves from getting carried away with the finery of life. I’m not saying that having a Lexus is wrong but what visual witness does that send out to the poor among us as well as the disillusioned outsider who has decided already that Christian leaders are all about the Benjamin’s?
Cool. I just didn’t want to come off as saying that I was on the side of the dissenters, but just speculating where a movement like this could spring from. Thank God that I have found a church where there is a good balance. I believe my church’s take, is that the pastor should make an average of what his congregation makes. Which I agree with.
And thanks for pointing it back to God. It’s amazing how much we truly do not trust God to take care of. I whole heartedly include myself in that as well.
I know that this post is from August, but I just thought I would add my perspective to the mix here (and vent a little)..for what its worth…I just want to be heard…I am just an ordinary Christian woman who belongs to a non-denominational church. Been there for 5 years. I actually think that pastors should spend more time studying and praying…it will be evident in their actions. Sadly, I must say that my pastor spends most of his time golfing and dining out. He preaches prewritten sermons from his younger days and shows videos every wednesday night. He once asked my husband to come fix his hot tub and then left him there to work on it while he went golfing. The other day I saw him reading a magazine at 11:00 in the Barnes and Noble cafe sipping on a latte. He told the congregation about the facial he got while on his last mission trip to Rio. The worst part is that the elders seem ok with this!! They pay him about $100,000 a year, but won’t “officialy” disclose his salary (we got this information from an elder. The elder said the megachurch down the street offered him $300,000…we’re lucky to get him for that.) I just don’t get it. …I think its time that we try another church. What are they thinking? What gives them this sense of entitlement? He goes around saying “I can’t help it if I’m blessed” I definitely think he’s missing the point! My family is really struggling financially…its hard to watch this “man of God” living so high and not compromising his salary one bit during these hard economic times. The other staff had to take big pay cuts, but not him. He could “get more” elsewhere…i say let him go…I’m not usually this frustrated, but its really turning my husband away from God because he doesn’t have a good role model in any of the leaders of how to live a Godly life…just a greedy life. The pastor and the elders know our financial situation and they keep asking my husband to do electrical work for themselves and for the church and never once offer to pay him. He feels obligated to do it…but resentment is growing…I don’t think that is the lifestyle God would want for a pastor. People who support this sort of thing can show me all the out of context scripture they want…they are missing the message and preaching a worldly “prosperity” gospel…sorry, but luxury and leisure usually precede apathy…and apathy precedes apostasy…hence my frustration. Didn’t Jesus get upset with the people in the temple who were trying to make a profit in God’s holy temple. My opinion of Christianity in America is…we are like the Laodicean church in the book of Revelation…God is NOT happy with us! The irony of all this is my pastor claims to be an expert on Revelations prophecy…
Michelle, I hear you. There are many people taking advantage in ministry, just as they did at the time of Jesus. And you’re right Jesus often came against such people. I am currently working on a book and in it I mention that the church is sometimes like the church of Sardis, that we sometimes have “a reputation of being alive, but…are dead.” Rev.3 Unfortunately many are living in the lap of apathy and complacency and yet don’t know it.
Personally, no pastor is worth $100,000 let alone $300,000. Let’s be honest how much does a pastor need to get through the year? I’m the first to stand up and say that we need to pay our pastors what they’re worth, but let’s keep it real. The fact that the elders won’t disclose his actual salary… I’m not sure how that works, but I think if the church is a non-profit society then anyone can know these details, after all it’s your money that goes into his pocket (in a round about way and looking at this from a worldly perspective).
I would advise that you look at another church. If you are frustrated and your husband is being as you say “turned away” then a move may be in order. The fact that you’re struggling financially and yet you are being taken advantage of b church leaders is, for want of a better word, criminal.
Jesus wants for you and your family to experience life, but it seems that your not experience it. One of my mentors once told me that we cannot choose our family but we can choose our church family… even though we’re all one extended family try and find a good local family, one that will support you and not lord it over you. Jesus had little or no time for the religious hypocrites, liars, frauds, etc. and he still doesn’t!
I hope it all works out for you…. please stay in touch!
Chris
Chris, thank you for being so understanding of my frustration (especially having been a pastor yourself). What you say makes sense, both in your original post and your response to my comment. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. It actually frustrates me just as much to see people give up on church and fellowship just because of the faults and failures of church leaders…they are, after all, only human and some people can be overly judgemental. I got a chance last night to look at the rest of your site. It is a very good ministry and I am very glad that I stumbled across it! I have it bookmarked and I’m sure that I will be back to read some more. I pray that you reach many people with it. Thank you for your encouragement …by the way, your book sounds interesting…keep writing… God bless